All vehicles other than electric, hydrogen and the cleanest hybrids will be restricted for three hours in the morning and three in the evening in two London boroughs from March

PETROL and diesel cars face being banned from parts of two London boroughs under Britain’s toughest action against polluting vehicles.

The councils want to restrict all vehicles other than electric, hydrogen and the cleanest hybrid cars at peak times. Drivers of even the newest petrol and diesel models face fines of £130 if they use the nine streets within Hackney or Islington during three-hour periods in the morning or the evening. They will be monitored by automatic number-plate recognition cameras.

The plans go beyond the approach of Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, who has introduced a £10-a-day “toxicity charge” for older petrol and diesel cars.

Feryal Demirci, Hackney’s cabinet member for transport, said that the streets in Shoreditch and Hoxton being targeted “suffer from some of the worst air quality in London”. Consultation on the scheme is due to end on February 14 and it will begin next month.

Graeme Paton, Transport CorrespondentThis article first appeared in The Times